English

Suffix

-woman ‎(plural -women)

1. Someone (implied female) who is an expert in an area.

   horsewoman, sportswoman

2. Someone (implied female) who is employed or holds a position in an area.

   committeewoman, newswoman, policewoman

3. Someone (implied female) who has special characteristics relating to an area.

   bogeywoman, superwoman

Usage notes

• To include men and women, either the suffix -person is used, or a gender-inclusive synonym, for example police officer instead of policeman.

Antonyms

• -man

Hypernyms

• -person

Derived terms

French

Etymology

Borrowing from English woman.

Suffix

-woman

1. used to form the names of female sportspersons or professions

Derived terms

Usage notes

• Most of these like businesswoman are borrowed directly from English, while some such as tenniswoman are not.

See also

• -man